Date - September 27th 2022. Tuesday.
It has been exactly one week since Inori's predicament, the time 2:30 in the afternoon.
Katsuyama's central shopping Street was filled to it's brim as this was the hottest time of the day.
House wives were navigating the bustling street in preparation for lunch and dinner.
A local shop with a kanji written banner: Tengokyu Family Store.
The owner had a small stand in front of the store where he sold onigiri.
He was dusting his stand when one of his goods suddenly vanished.
He seemed not to notice and continued his cleaning.
Gulp
Inori devoured the onigiri like it was her first time eating food.
Dirty and smelly, she now resembled an appropriate homeless person.
She quickly finished the food, regretting why she had carried only one as she hungered for more.
She held her legs closely, as her eyes stared at the road from the alley she was in. Dirt piled around her, accompanied with her neighbors which were rats and cockroaches.
Inori was breathing heavily whilst looking at the street, she had caught a cold from sleeping outside 7 days straight.
Her lips stammered.
"I have a cold."
She touched her forehead, her entire body was burning up.
'I have to leave this place soon, too many men have been approaching me.'
She remembered the experience two days back, some drunk office workers had approached her at this very alley, she barely escaped without getting touched.
"I... I want to go home."
She muttered with her throat dry.
- Inori has walked far away from where she originally woke up. She had tried explaining to some approachable adults that she was the prime minister's daughter.
- It was immediately followed with attempts to send her to a psychiatric ward.
"I barely managed to leave there."
She casually continued speaking to herself...
"Let... let me just... close my eyes, the cold should subside...after some rest."
With that being said, she covered herself with a dirty News paper beside her.
Inori rested her eyes in hopes of the cold magically disappearing.
A quick nap turned to a 6 hour rest. Typical from a fever. She was woken by her only friend, hunger.
As expected, a single onigiri will do little to a growing child.
It was 8:30 in the evening and some salary workers had began filling the streets.
Inori stood up, hurriedly leaving in hopes of avoiding them, she had developed a slight fear of men from her previous days.
Her feet dragged her shivering body sluggishly, the moonlight caused a beautiful setting contradicting with inori's tattered state.
"I'm famished, the sleep might have restored some of my strength, but I'm still hungry and thirsty."
She outlined her problems as if having a solution.
Her hands desperately rubbed together to generate some warmth, she was freezing.
"What.... did I do... to deserve this?"
Trying to mutter strength only to shed more tears, Inori's situation was slowly settling in.
She was in a place she didn't know, although still Japan, Inori had never been to Fukui.
Her hair, now dark blue with nails painted black.
Lastly she was announced "dead" Instead of missing which she currently was.
Her "corpse" was even mentioned!
She was starving for answers, anybody would be in her situation.
Now leaving the busy night time streets, Inori found herself in a small forest behind the coastal scenery Fukui is known for.
Still aimlessly, she wonders deeper into the forest in hopes of finding something—Anything that could be of use, be it shelter, food or miraculously even her father waiting for her with open arms. At least let the girl dream.
"A house?"
She spotted a little Japanese styled inn, it was stationed in a small field still in the forest. Not many trees were around the inn, almost as if someone deliberately uprooted them to create space.
Without wasting a second, Inori rushes towards the house, constantly falling but picking her self up, she desperately ran like a hobo finding a home.
Her hopes and prayers at the time was finding warmth in the little inn, if possible getting a good night sleep there, a shower, some food, anything would be better than nothing.
She finally reached the inn. Short of breath and strength, she attempted to move the paper door, surprisingly it wasn't locked.
Quietly sliding the door open, she examined the inner structure. it was obviously dark because of the time but Inori was hardly scared. The floor was dusty and the walls had a strange smell, except that of wood.
Manga of different genres were scattered on the floor as well as some dirty laundry.
She dismissed all the details and laid her bum down, after 7 days she finally sat in a house. She massaged her legs and spoke.
"I've been walking for a long time without shoes....my feet hurt."
Her face was barely recognizable, her hair all tangled and her robe a different color caused by dirt.
She stripped and checked her body in search of any injuries,
Some light scars could be found but nothing major.
Her body was slowly turning into that of a ruffian.
The whole situation still baffled her, a week ago she was dining with the Prime Minister, her one and only father.
Inori looked around, staring at the walls of the room she was in.
'This place doesn't look that bad.'
She thought to herself forcing a smile.
"I can imagine myself living here! I'll put a bed here."
She pointed at her right.
"Then I'll put a book shelf here!"
She pointed at her left.
"Yes, this isn't bad at all!"
Nodding her head in agreement, Inori decided to make it her home.
- Perhaps the cold had damaged her brain, but this was obviously someone else's house. What a stupid girl.
"Okay that's a little bit mean-
Interrupting her sentence, the ryokan door slid open from the outside—this was bad, the inn owner had arrived.
'Oh no!'
She winced, afraid of what the owner would say seeing a homeless person in their house.
Her mind set to panic, Inori hid behind a small shelf in the room anticipating this new character.
"Honey! I'm home—!"
A male voice spoke in... English?
"Haha, my American accent is getting pretty good!"
It reverted to Japanese, what a strange fellow. He was an unbelievably handsome teen. From his height, about 2 years older than Inori.
He had long blood colored hair that wasn't in any form of style, left to fall on his nape with some occasional locks resting on his forehead.
He wore a simple white shirt that was larger than his features and black plants that seemed to fit perfectly.
'I didn't think someone would live here!'
She thought to herself, remembering the door wasn't locked.
The young man stepped inside the house, dropping a black wrapped rod on the floor.
Clang!
It made a normal metal sound, those were most likely weapons of some sort.
'I'll run when their not looking!'
Inori on the other hand was plotting her escape.
The man bent down to remove his shoes.
Then and there.
Inori ran as fast as her frail legs could—towards the door of course.
In that brief moment, their eyes met and she saw his face. Eyes glowing red with black circles in each, his face too perfect to be called human, let alone a boy.
'....what a beautiful girl.'
She thought while running outside like a burglar.
The man, still crouched from removing his shoes was left dumbfounded....at least before realizing.
"....thief, thief! Come back here you son of a bitch!!!!"
He quickly wore his shoes and chased after Inori!
Leaving nothing but a blur behind.
"Ahhhhhh! Why is she so fast!!!!"
Inori yelled, referring him as a girl. He was quickly gaining on Inori.
"Stop right there criminal scum!!!!"
He shouted with full speed. maneuvering his way around the forest like it was his natural habitat.
'Why is she chasing me?!!'
Inori worried. What would this person do if they caught up with her.
- What Inori didn't know was that most people would react this way. I mean what would you do if you found someone else in your house, looking all filthy, then the person rushes out immediately as you step in-
"Okay, okay I get it, she thinks I'm a thief!"
She yelled.
Out of nowhere. The man launched himself at Inori and pinned her to the ground.
"Haha! Got you now bitch!"
He said with a victorious face.
He immediately held her throat in place, going for the kill.
'I'm going.... to die....'
Her thoughts slowly faded as he strangled her. The man had placed his two thumbs in between her throat and exerted immense pressure.
He saw tears roll down Inori's cheeks, causing him to slightly release his grip.
Inori stole the opportunity and pushed him off her stomach.
Cough! Cough!
She wheezed, backing away from the stranger, Inori rubbed her throat he had been strangling.
Wondering why the grip suddenly loosened, no complaints of course.
"I'm alive!"
A wave of relief came to be as she finally caught her breath.
Inori was sitting 2 steps away from the new fellow, not knowing what to do.
"What were you doing in my house?"
A simple but obvious question to ask given the situation, the boy interrogated Inori.
"I'm terribly sorry ma'am!"
She said while bending down.
'Ma'am?'
He wondered with a confused face, Inori had mistaken his gender.
"I didn't know someone lived there, I simply wanted to use the house as refuge to spend the night!"
Her posture still bowing, Inori apologized sincerely.
The boy, seated in front of her with an absent minded look.
'She talks funny, like some princess.'
He thought to himself hearing Inori's proper grammar, most certainly unexpected given her appearance.
"What am I saying? no one would believe that-
Smack!
The man quickly knocked Inori unconscious like a ninja.
She couldn't even react and immediately lost consciousness.
"I'm really tired so it's probably better to search her than ask questions...I mean she looks like a homeless person, and hobos steal right?"
The boy searched Inori without touching her inappropriately.
The robe she wore had only 2 pockets, one had the piece of paper, still containing Eric's signature, the other empty.
He noticed her temperature was extremely high but paid no mind to it.
".... so she wasn't lying?"
He stayed still, feeling bad for knocking her unconscious-
"Oh well, best head back home!"
Okay I guess he didn't feel bad.
He left Inori's unconscious body and went home.
The time was now 10:50, a full moon bathed the entire forest with light.
Surprisingly, the area was quite calm, no sign of a Sinner. Not even a wild animal despite being a forest.
At least Inori could rest in peace, that's if she survived the night cold.
Speaking of cold, a slight rain had began to fall, it seemed like only a drizzle but could be life threatening to Inori's weakend body.
-----------
Some time later the rain had increased in magnitude, it poured unforgivenly on Inori as she laid down. This would certainly lead to death since she already had a cold.
A foot approached the sleeping beauty, it was the handsome boy responsible for Inori's unconsciousness.
He was now wearing a yellow raincoat to shield him from the down pour.
"I can't sleep for some reason."
He muttered to himself staring at Inori getting beated by the rain.
Maybe because he left her alone in the rain.
And so he carried Inori back to his house on his back preventing her certain doom.
"I wonder what Mom's doing..."
He said out loud staring at the moon, the last word for the day as he took Inori to his home.